Empire (2002 film)
Encyclopedia
Plot
Victor Rosa is a drug dealer in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
who sells a specific brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
of heroin called "Empire". His area, or "turf", is located in the South Bronx, where his other rivals all maintain an uneasy truce. They generally respect each other's borders and sanctity. All of this is maintained because it just so happens that they all purchase their drugs from the same supplier, the drug lord
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
La Colombiana. Victor is invited to a chic white collar party by his girlfriend Carmen (Cotto). The party is being thrown by her friend Trish's (Richards) boyfriend Jack (Sarsgaard), an investment banker. Vic befriends Jack as he looks up to him and his lifestyle. With a baby on the way Vic decides he wants to go straight, an opportunity Jack provides. Vic begins to invest money with Jack, receiving significant returns (200%). As Vic draws closer to Jack he finds himself drifting away from what he once was, and his former friends and family. He even moves into a fabulous loft in Soho, courtesy of Jack. Meanwhile Carmen and his friends all criticize him for acting like something he is not, and forgetting where he came from, and them.
The climax arises when Jack offers Vic an investment opportunity for over 300% return, there's only one catch, the minimum buy-in is $4.5 million. Vic is $1.5 million short. He approaches La Colombiana with an offer, in which she agrees to lend Vic the money he needs but she wants 500% return and for him to stop a feud between his best friend Jimmy who now runs his drug business, and a rival dealer. However, the feud escalates and Jimmy kills the rival. He in turn is killed by La Colombiana. Vic receives his money and gives it to Jack. It turns out that Jack is a con artist and disappears the next day. Victor is lost but manages to track Jack down via a phone number he had called from earlier in Miami. Victor tries to get his money back, and kills Jack and Trish when he is unable to. He escapes with Carmen and her family to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and opens a bar on the south side of the island with what little money he has left. At the end of the movie, Vic receives a phone call, his son is being born at the hospital. Just when he is getting in his car to go to the hospital, he is shot dead; La Colombiana had caught up with him for not fulfilling his end of their agreement.
Cast
- John LeguizamoJohn LeguizamoJonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
as Victor Rosa - Peter SarsgaardPeter SarsgaardJohn Peter Sarsgaard is an American film and stage actor. He landed his first feature role in the movie Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron...
as Jack - Delilah CottoDelilah CottoDelilah Cotto is a Puerto Rican-American dancer, model, television and film actress.-Early life:Cotto was born and raised in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York to Puerto Rican-American parents. She studied drama at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City...
as Carmen - Denise RichardsDenise RichardsDenise Lee Richards is an American actress and former fashion model of Croatian and Welsh descent. She has appeared in films including Starship Troopers, Wild Things, and The World Is Not Enough...
as Trish - Vincent LarescaVincent LarescaVincent Laresca is an American actor.Laresca first appeared in film in 1992, in the movie Juice as Radames. Since then, he has appeared in many popular films, including The Devil's Advocate, The Aviator, Empire, Coach Carter, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Baz Luhrmann's William...
as Jimmy - Isabella RosselliniIsabella RosselliniIsabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
as La Colombiana - Sonia BragaSônia BragaSônia Maria Campos Braga is a Brazilian actress. She has been nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.-Early life:...
as Iris - Nestor SerranoNestor SerranoNestor Serrano is an American film and television actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law.Serrano began his acting career in off-Broadway plays in the late 1970s. His first film was the 1986 Tom Hanks comedy The Money Pit...
as Rafael Menendez - TreachTreachAnthony Criss , better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature.-Career:...
as Chedda - Fat JoeFat JoeJoseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
as Tito Severe - Rafael Baez as Jay ("the idiot savant")
Production
Empire was the first release from Arenas Entertainment, a branch of Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
specializing in productions for Hispanic audiences.
Release
Universal picked up the film for US$650,000, and released it on December 6, 2002 in 867 theaters.Reception
Empire received negative reviews, and carries a score of 21% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 99 reviews.